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Friday, July 15, 2011

Baseball has been with us since the 1890s. Some 50 years later, someone coined the phrase, which has never gone away: Sophomore Slump.
It has been part of baseball lexicon since the 1950s. Rookie gets to the show, has a great first year, then flames out. What he showed the first time around is not duplicated the second year in the majors. Many bounce back from it; some never do.
Meet Jed Hoyer, Mat Latos, Clayton Richard, all of whom who made a great impact upon their arrival with the Padres this time last year. Hoyer, the young General Manager. Latos, the young ace of the pitching staff. Richard, the speedball pitcher who was the big payoff in the Jake Peavy trade.
What was last year is not what is this year. You remember last year don't you? Padres baseball in first place for 146 days in a row before running out of gas on the final weekend of the season.
Hoyer, the bright light GM, made seven key acquistions that made the 2010 season special.Latos strung together 15 brilliant starts in a row in the midst of a 9-1 stretch. Richard ground his way to a 14-win season.
First place baseball has been replaced by last place ball. Talk about pennant races and hated rivals has been replaced by words like impending free agents, trade rumors, empty seats and a town turned off. All that with half a season of games still to be played.
That summer of celebration last year has been replaced this summer of despair. Second-worst home record in baseball, a league-leading 15 shutouts, and one of the worst hitting lineups in modern day baseball.
And now the trading deadline is upon us, with the likely removal of popular closer Heath Bell, maybe running mate reliever Mike Adams, surely power hitter Ryan Ludick, and perhaps a few others.
What a difference a year makes, from first place to last place, hope to hopelessness. And let's not mention the fact the low $45 million payroll may dip to $38 million, after they trade verterans for young prospects.
A year ago baseball regaled the Hoyer acquisitions. Veteran pitcher Jon Garland gave them 14 wins. Multi purpose infielder Jerry Hairston had a superior season playing lots of positions. Chris Denorfia became a key outfielder when injuries struck. The trading deadline deals for Ludwick and Miguel Tejada breathed some life into a tired lineup.
But last year is gone, the memories replaced by this mess. Hoyer removed 14 of 28 players from that near-first-place roster this past offseason, bringing in 11 new players..
Whereas last summer there were seven new contributors, this year only four of the Hoyer additions have helped.
Aaron Harang and Dustin Moseley have found homes here, for at least this season. They have pitched their guts out with little run support. Chad Qualls, out of the bullpen, now healthy, has found a niche. And the future looks bright for centerfielder Cam Mayben, dynamic at the age of 23.
Yes, it has been a tough go for the first installment on the Adrian Gonzalez trade, but Anthony Rizzo looks to have the makings of a very good major leaguer, but he is just 21 years old.
But where there should be strength in numbers, Hoyer has struck out. First baseman Jorge Cantu is gone, and running mate Brad Hawpe is hurt, but was of little use before he went down. Injuries have derailed an aging Orlando Hudson. Jason Bartlett has not flashed the specialness at shortstop he showed in Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Rob Johnson is a backup catcher. Greg Zaun is gone. Eric Patterson dumped into the minor leagues.
It is surely nowhere near the same roster, talent wise, nor depth wise, as a year ago. And it shows in the standings, even in a weakened National League West division, where the Rockies and Dodgers have fallen on hard times, Arizona is young, and the first place Giants still are not hitting.
Last year's team might have been back in first place this year, but Hoyer had to blow it up.
Matt Latos is 5-10, with few dominant starts, though getting competitive again. Clayton Richard is on the disabled list but is not the pitcher now he was a year ago. They have both regressed.
In baseball history lore, we could apply that age old term second year slumps to the key young Padres pitchers. I bet this is the first time anyone would use that term to describe the Padres General Manager.
Jed Hoyer seems to be suffering from a "Sophomore Slump" too.

Published: July 15, 2011

The best birthday present I ever received came from my wife. She gave me a baseball from the 2009 World Series signed by Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees shortstop. I treasure it because he’s my favorite player but also because my newborn daughter slept in my arms while I watched the Yankees win that World Series.

Like many Yankees’ fans, I spent last Saturday watching the coverage of Jeter getting his 3,000th hit over and over. And then, I thought of all the memorabilia that was coming — all the balls, bats, jerseys, photos and anything you could imagine signed by Jeter.
Three days later, I actually saw some of that memorabilia in the making, at the headquarters of Steiner Sports in New Rochelle, N.Y. The Steiner warehouse looked like a cross between a Home Depot and Santa’s workshop, with shelves stacked to the ceiling with sports merchandise. I saw a half dozen men framing photographs Jeter had signed Sunday night. There were boxes of balls he had also signed stacked like crates of oranges. Blown up Sport Illustrated covers of Jeter were in the back, out of the way for the time being.
I had gone to Steiner Sports to see more than just the Jeter memorabilia, though. I also wanted to understand the broader market for baseball collectibles. What types of things appreciate? Can a collector expect to profit from his hobby? Most important, how do you know if what you have is valuable or just an expensive tchotchke? Here is some of what I learned: STRIKEOUTS Chances are pretty good that the sports memorabilia most people have is not worth much. All the balls, bats and pictures being sold at retail stores and online to commemorate Jeter’s milestone fit into that category.
Brandon Steiner, who in 1987 founded Steiner Sports, which is now owned by Omnicom, said there were different levels of collectors, ranging from those who save programs and tickets to people who buy things that were used in a game.
In between is the market for so-called authentic collectibles. A day after his 3,000th hit, Jeter signed 500 balls and 400 photos for Mr. Steiner’s company. Those balls are selling for $699.99; the photos range from $599.99 to $799.99.
Mr. Steiner said this was a relatively small signing to meet the immediate demand. He has scheduled two more for Jeter to autograph game-used memorabilia as well as things fans send in and pay a fee to have autographed.
And that’s just for one moment in baseball history, awesome though it was. Retired baseball greats and not-so-greats have been signing memorabilia, for a fee, for 30 years at baseball card shows, flooding the autograph market.
The worst offender may be Pete Rose, who holds the record for the most hits ever, 4,256. Since he was caught betting on baseball and banned from the sport, he has been a prolific signer. Balls inscribed “I’m sorry I bet on baseball — Pete Rose” are being sold on Walmart.com for $189.99 and on Amazon.com for $159.95. (A ball with just his name costs $69.99.)
This segment of the memorabilia industry is an easy target for purists. “I have total disdain for the manufactured memorabilia market,” said Richard Simon, a baseball card dealer and authenticator. “That is what is going on right now, as opposed to Babe Ruth signing an autograph book or a photo of himself 70 years ago.”
But Mr. Steiner is unapologetic. “The last three or four years, I’ve been thinking, how do we get to the average fan who can’t afford authentic, let alone game-used?” he said. He cited ballpark dirt and the bricks from the old Yankee Stadium as affordable keepsakes. “People laugh at me about the dirt, but I’ve sold over $10 million worth of dirt.”
Howie Schwartz, chief executive of GrandStandSports.com and a competitor to Steiner, said the relative affordability of Jeter memorabilia — ranging from $400 to $1,000 — matches up well with the huge market for him.
“Look at how many people watch baseball and how many kids play baseball,” he said. The average consumer may think 900 items is a lot. But there were 50,000 fans at Yankees Stadium that day.”
Still, 50,000 people buying identical signed baseballs may be good for the seller but it is not good for anyone who expects the collectible to increase, or even hold, its value. HOME RUNS The market for high-end sports memorabilia is different.
The most famous baseball collectible of all time is a baseball card known as the “T206.” It depicts Honus Wagner, a Hall of Fame shortstop from the early 20th century, and there are only about 60 still around. (Wagner ordered the maker, the American Tobacco Company, to stop production, legend has it, because he was not paid enough for his image or feared that children would buy cigarettes to get it.) The T206, once owned by the hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, was sold in 2007 for $2.8 million to Ken Kendrick, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

NEW YORK (AP) — Seems you can't put a baseball star on trial without a mistrial.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens remain perfectly bookended, each with seven major awards, one mistrial and no guilty verdict assured of sticking.
Victor Conte, whose Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative sparked the government investigations of drugs and athletes, has had enough.
"It's a huge waste of federal taxpayer dollars at this point," he said Thursday during a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I don't know the tab, but probably tens of millions of dollars at this point."
Three months and a day after Bonds walked out of a San Francisco court room following a three-week trial and a muddled verdict that could result in a retrial, Clemens hustled out of a Washington, D.C., court room when a judge ruled federal prosecutors botched their case on Day 2, saying they made a mistake unworthy of a "first-year law student."
As baseball's gray eminence, Yogi Berra, would say, "it's like deja vu all over again."
When facing off against baseball players and their best-in-the-business legal teams, the Justice Department has struggled.
Conte, the BALCO president, was sentenced to four months in prison and four months' home confinement after pleading guilty in 2005 to one count of steroid distribution and one count of money laundering. Bonds was a BALCO client, its most famous.
Conte has two points to make on Clemens.
"Let me just say it's my opinion and only my opinion that Roger Clemens is guilty," he offered.
But that doesn't mean he thinks it should be a criminal matter.
"I believe that there are higher and better tasks than these trophy hunts of trying to take these big-name athletes and make examples of them," Conte said. "Regardless of whether or not I think he's guilty or not, we've reached a point where enough is enough and it's time to move on. Back in 2003 or when they brought the case against myself and Barry Bonds, that was a different economic climate than it is today, post 2008."
When IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, surfing through BALCO's trash in 2002 or 2003, found a photograph of Conte and Bonds together in the magazine Muscle & Fitness, it sparked a legal pursuit that's still ongoing.
Like a Rube Goldberg machine, one led to another. The BALCO investigation led to the book "Game of Shadows." A week after the book was published in March 2006, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig hired former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to investigate steroids.
Mitchell published his report in December 2007, implicating Clemens based on statements from the pitcher's former trainer, Brian McNamee, who was forced to cooperate by federal agents after he was tied to steroids by former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski. Clemens' denials over the following week prompted a congressional committee to ask the pitcher and McNamee to testify, leading to a February hearing where Clemens repeated that he had never used performance-enhancing drugs. The was followed by a referral to the Justice Department, a grand jury investigation and an indictment last August.
The federal government charged the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements to Congress and two counts of perjury. Now, the government faces a Sept. 2 hearing when it likely will try to persuade U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton to allow a retrial.
Across the country, a different set of prosecutors face an Aug. 26 hearing when Bonds' lawyers will argue that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston should throw out the one conviction against the seven-time Most Valuable Player — that he obstructed justice when he gave an evasive answer to a grand jury in December 2003.
Bonds' prosecutors haven't decided whether to retry the three hung counts. The jury couldn't come to a unanimous verdict on charges he made false statements when he denied using steroids and human growth hormone and said he allowed only doctors to inject him. But it convicted him of giving an evasive statement when asked whether his trainer, Greg Anderson, ever gave him "anything that required a syringe to inject yourself with?"
Bonds' rambling reply stated that "I became a celebrity child with a famous father." His lawyers argue that he can't be convicted of that, partly because moments later he was asked "Did either Mr. Anderson or Mr. Conte ever give you a liquid that they told you to inject into yourself" and Bonds responded with a simple: "No."
Just before closing arguments, one of Bonds' lawyers, Dennis Riordan, addressed the possibility of a conviction on the allegedly evasive statements contained in the jury instructions, saying it "would be utterly a farce."
In the view of Conte, prosecutions of baseball stars has become pointless.
"I just think it's time for those that make these types of decisions to make a higher and better use of federal taxpayer dollars," he said.
Walton also had the economics on his mind.
"We've expended a lot of your taxpayer's money to reach this point," he told the jurors before sending them home.
Derek Jeter, like many, is tired of the wrangling with no end.
"I'm no legal expert but you want it to be behind him," he said. "Obviously, the more attention that's paid to that, it's just negative for the game in general."

LONDON: The English Premier League on Friday moved to end the controversy over clubs fielding weakened sides by announcing managers will be free to pick any combination of players from their 25-man squads next season.

Both Blackpool and Wolves have fallen foul of Premier League rule E.20, which states that "in every league match, each participating club shall field a full-strength team".

The league has now relaxed the rule, meaning managers will be free to choose from their senior squad and, if need be, their additional pool of "home-grown" Under-21 talent.

They could still be punished, however, if they are deemed to have selected too many younger players from outside their 25-man squad.

Blackpool were fined £25 000 last season after making 10 changes for a match at Aston Villa before reverting to their supposedly stronger line-up for a trip to relegation rivals West Ham in their next game.

In December 2009, Wolves were hit with a suspended fine after making 10 changes at Manchester United, where they lost 3-0, before returning to a more experienced team to beat Burnley in their next fixture.

A spokesman for the Premier League said: "The clubs voted at the last Premier League Annual General Meeting to modify the rule regarding clubs fielding full strength teams (E.20).

"From 2011/12 onwards the rule will allow any combination of players included in a club's 25-man squad list to be selected for a Premier League fixture.

"The 25-man squad rules do allow clubs to pick Under-21 players beyond those named in their squad list and, with this in mind, it was agreed by the clubs that it was appropriate for the rule to remain in place in order to ensure the integrity of the competition."

(Neon Tommy will be previewing the 2011 College Football Season throughout the summer. You can find links to each of our Top 25 previews here. Today, we preview the team ranked 11th, the South Carolina Gamecocks.)

Spurrier looks to improve on his first nine-win season in Columbia. (Pbroks13 via Wikimedia Commons)

Head Coach: Steve Spurrier (186-73-2 overall, 44-33 at South Carolina)South Carolina's 2010 Season: (9-5, 5-3 in SEC), Lost Chick-fil-A Bowl 26-17 to Florida StateOffensive Analysis:
-- Seven returning starters
-- Impact Players: QB Stephen Garcia, RB Marcus Lattimore, WR Alshon Jeffery
To the surprise of many, the South Carolina Gamecocks made it to the 2010 SEC championship Game, where they eventually fell to Auburn. Steve Spurrier's offense returns seven starters from that squad and is in position to make another run in the SEC. QB Stephen Garcia is back at the helm for his senior season. Last year Garcia threw for over 3,000 yards while finding the endzone 20 times. However, Garcia also led the SEC in interceptions with 14.RB Marcus Lattimore (pictured left) also returns after a sensational freshman season in which he rushed for 1,197 yards as well as 17 touchdowns. Lattimore is also a capable threat in the passing game after totaling 412 receiving yards on just 29 catches in 2010. At receiver, Alshon Jeffery and D.L. Moore return as starters. Jeffery is the more notable of the pair after leading the SEC in receptions (88), yards (1517) and touchdowns (9) last year. Justice Cunningham will take over at tight end. The offensive line returns three starters in T.J. Johnson, Kyle Nunn and Rokevious Watkins.Defensive Analysis:
-- Six returning starters
-- Impact players: DL Devin Taylor, DL Jadeveon Clowney, DB Stephon Gilmore
In 2010, the Gamecocks played a "Jekyll and Hyde" style of defense. Their pass defense was one of the worst in the nation, ranking 97th. Yet their run defense was elite, coming in at 12th nationally. In their nine wins, the defense gave up an average of only 15 points, but in South Carolina's losses, the total bumped up to 37.8.Only two starters return from a defensive line that helped make the Gamecocks' run defense so stout, Travian Robertson and Devin Taylor. As a sophomore last season, Taylor finished 2nd on the team with 7.5 sacks. Joining the group in the trenches is the nation's No. 1 overall recruit Jadeveon Clowney (pictured right, #7 in white). There has been speculation Clowney may not qualify academically, but assuming he gets his affairs in order, he will likely be a factor from the get-go for South Carolina.
At linebacker, only DeVonte Holloman returns, but he is a good one. Holloman was second on the team in both tackles and interceptions in 2010. He will be joined by Shaq Wilson and Rondey Paulk.
The secondary should be much improved this season. What was an inexperienced group in 2010 will now be the veterans of the defense in 2011. D.J. Swearinger, Akeem Aguste and Stephon Gilmore are all returning starters. In 2010, Gilmore led the Gamecocks in tackles and interceptions, and even managed three sacks of opposing quarterbacks.Strengths:
The schedule is the envy of the SEC, and perhaps the nation. For starters, they only play four games on the road and one at a neutral site (against East Carolina in Charlotte); the other seven are all in Columbia. On top of that, they don't face LSU or Alabama in the SEC rotation, and they get both Florida and Auburn at home. The offense has a veteran QB under center and arguably the best WR/RB combo in the conference. An experienced secondary will have to lead the defense.Areas of Concern:
Off-the-field issues (academics) could affect the availability of much-needed mega recruit Jadeveon Clowney. QB Stephen Garcia found himself in Spurrier's doghouse yet again this spring, but if he ends up in it once more, will Spurrier sit him out? The talent lost in the front seven is tough to replace, and there are concerns that the new faces won't be able to maintain the level of play last year's group attained.Final Thoughts:
The SEC East is weak this year, at least by SEC standards. In a "normal" year, this South Carolina team probably finishes somewhere in the middle of the pack. But this year, we predict the Gamecocks will rely on experience at key positions on both sides of the ball to carry the torch and lead them to their second-straight berth in the SEC title game in Atlanta.

WINTER PARK, Fla. - Hank Williams, Jr. was ready to talk football on Thursday and declared the NFL lockout near its end.

"I think the deal is done," he said. That's good news considering he was at Full Sail University shooting the 1-minute, 20-second "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Monday Night" video that kicks off ESPN's "Monday Night Football" telecast. "You can't keep on," he said of the lockout, "or you're going to keep alienating the fan base. While they're at it -- remember the older players who can't walk."

Williams -- who begins his 23rd season Sept. 12 -- has been on Mondays longer than Howard Cosell, Al Michaels or even "Gunsmoke." "It started as a one-year deal," Williams said. "We said 'Let's try it out.'"

ESPN vice president of production enhancement and creative services Bob Toms has worked with Williams since he became associated with MNF in 1989. "It's a year-by-year thing. We keep asking and he keeps saying yes," Toms said. "We've had him on boats, planes, in space and even in the president's office where we had his hand on the button." The audio track for the intro was recorded last month in Nashville.

A devoted Steelers fan, Williams said he "knew they were going to lose" to Green Bay in the Super Bowl. He also blasted James Harrison in light of recent quotes in Men's Health about commissioner Roger Goodell and others. "If Bill Cowher was there … I could tell you what would happen. You're out of here," Williams said. "I'd stand by for a message on that whole situation. They [the Rooneys] have never tolerated that kind of stuff. "

Among the estimated 70 production staff, 30 Full Sail faculty, 20 student assistants and 200-300 extras at the shoot -- which began at 10 a.m. and lasted all day - was 5-year Navy veteran and Saints fan Mike Dominguez, a 24-year-old film student, complete in his Drew Brees jersey. A year ago, Dominguez was aboard the submarine USS Columbus in the Pacific Ocean. "This is a dream come true," he said. "I grew up watching Monday Night Football."

Four Seminoles earned the individual honor while the women's side earned team honors.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced the 2011 ITA All-Academic Teams and ITA Scholar-Athletes with Florida State representing four student-athletes to the men's and women's lists. The women's team was named as an ITA All-Academic Team to end their incredible season.

In order to be named as an ITA All-Academic Team, any individuals who competed had to be included in a cumulative 3.20 grade point average for the fall and spring semester. To be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete, an individual had to post a 3.50 grade point average for the current academic year. Florida State was one of six ACC schools to be named to the list which included Boston College, Duke, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Senior Katie Rybakova (Coral Springs, Fla.,), redshirt sophomore Noemie Scharle (Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg) and senior Federica Suess (Ludwigshafen, Germany) were named as ITA Scholar-Athletes. This is the third year Rybakova and Suess were named to the list.

"I am ecstatic that our women's tennis team once again earned All-Academic Team honors," said head coach Jennifer Hyde. "This speaks to the commitment that our student-athletes have to not only their tennis endeavors, but to their academic responsibilities as well. These young ladies strive each year to be as good as they can be on all fronts, and I continue to be so proud of how well each of them represents our women's tennis program, as well our athletic department at Florida State University."

This season the trio helped lead the women's team to their second ACC Championship match. The team posted eight straight wins during the conclusion of the season which included wins over No. 3 Duke (twice), No. 4 North Carolina and No. 11 Virginia.

Individually, the trio was named to the Academic All-ACC Team while Suess was named the ITA Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winner and earned the ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award. Rybakova was named to the All-ACC Team and as a third team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

On the men's side, Vahid Mirzadeh, a senior from Wellington, Fla., was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete for the first time in his career. Mirzadeh finished the season by being named with All-America doubles honors. He was also named to the All-ACC Team and All-ACC Academic Team. He was named as the national ITA Arthur Ashe Leaderships and Sportsmanship Award. Mirzadeh has been named to the Dean's List three times during his career including posting a 3.94 GPA this spring semester.

"I think anytime you can win an award for your academics it's truly a great honor to have," said Mirzadeh. "I've put in a lot of hard work not only on the tennis court but also off the court in my academics. I think it's really important to balance school and tennis."

The Harris Poll folks asked roughly 2,000 random Americans who they love and don’t love in sports, and here are their results. Kobe and MJ are tied in popularity, while LeBron has seen his drop. Please adjust your lives according. Per the press release: “[Derek Jeter] has been on the list of America’s favorite sports stars since 2004, this year, for the first time he is at the top, jumping up from number 3 last year. Next on the list is Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Peyton Manning at number 2, up from 5th place last year and then in a tie for 3rd place on the list, making the debate of who is the best even harder to determine, is Kobe Bryant, down from tie for first place last year, and Michael Jordan, up from 7th place. Rounding out the top five at number five is someone who was number one from 2006 – 2009 and in a tie for number one last year, Tiger Woods. These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,163 adults surveyed online between June 13 and 20, 2011 by Harris Interactive. Looking at the rest of the top ten favorite sports stars, New England quarterback Tom Brady moves up 2 spots and is at number 6 this year while the St. Louis Cardinals great, Albert Pujols returns to the list at a tie for number 7 after a one year absence. The list then has three newcomers: in a tie for number 7, Pittsburgh Steelers great and Dancing with the Stars champion Hines Ward; Chicago Bulls phenom, named Rookie of the Year in his first season as a pro, is Derrick Rose at number 9; and, Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers comes in for the first time at number 10. Since there is one sports star returning and three new comers to the list that means four stars dropped off this year’s list. Those stars are: Packers, Jets and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre who was previously number 4, NBA star LeBron James (was number 6), New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees (was number 9) and NASCAR great, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (was number 10).”

Last week, in response to reader emails and the quality and the provocativeness of an article, I did a post on Asian-Americans. I am not even sure my doing so came within the Mission of this blog, but I could not resist.
Now here I go again.
I never see good articles on Asian-Americans, but now two in one week? Maybe as a rabid sports fan I am biased, but I just loved this article, "Can I Write Check?" on what Yao Ming meant/means to Asian-Americans. (Hat tip to China-based Celtics fan, Jeremiah Jenne of Jottings from the Granite Studio).
The article is by Jay Caspian Kang and it would be worth reading if it said nothing more than the following paragraph comparing Yao to Ichiro:

It was this size and his Chineseness that initially alienated American fans. Regardless of who you are, it is nearly impossible to really identify with a 7-foot-6 foreigner. But the skepticism, at least among Asian-Americans, also had something to do with the fact that Yao's first game in the NBA had come a mere 11 months after Ichiro took home the American League's MVP Award. The role of Great Yellow Hope had already been filled. What's more, when compared side-to-side, Ichiro made for a much better hero. He was cool where Yao was awkward. He was mysterious where Yao was opaque. Neither men spoke English particularly well, and both communicated through translators, but Ichiro somehow made it seem like he was too cool to speak English, whereas Yao's press conferences felt canned and foreign. Despite not saying much, Ichiro branded himself through glossy magazine shoots and public appearances. Yao just kind of frowned a lot. Neither man gave up much in terms of personality. But Ichiro at least gave us dominance on the field. Early Yao seemed as if he was only playing for the glory of his homeland — a mercenary sent to showcase the glory of Chinese genetic manufacturing.

One of the hallmarks of great writing is that it reflects what you are thinking even before you even quite knew you were thinking it. I had never coherently thought about Yao in the way the article describes him (though I had definitely thought about Ichiro in that way), but now that I see him described this way, I realize I had thought about him like that all along.
In law school, I took Labor & Employment Law II from the same teacher from whom I had taken Labor Law I. Labor Law I was either a required course or I took it because I knew that it would be helpful for my planned business law career. I took Labor Law II simply because the teacher was so good I simply believed I would be better off as a lawyer learning a ton about something that might prove irrelevant than taking a facially more relevant course from a lesser teacher.
I feel the same way about the two articles on Asian-Americans on which I have posted. I am not sure they are relevant, but they are so good and so informative and such a joy to read, that in a round-about way, I feel they almost have to give us a better understanding of China. Does anyone see where I am coming from on this? Does anyone agree with me on this?
Plus, as someone who has always thought of himself as an immigrant, as someone who is constantly "hanging" around immigrants, and as someone who has both parents and kids, I just really related to the following:

Every child of immigrants knows the dread of watching a parent stumble through a PTA meeting or a car purchase or even an interaction with a grocery store clerk or waitress. Your sphincter constricts, your breath freezes. Every catastrophic scenario is projected — your mother's English will break, she will say something stupid or ignorant and the grand illusion of sameness, or, at least, the attempts at sameness, will atomize and disappear.
With Yao, I always felt that same dread. In an absurd, yet still significant way, watching him over the past nine years was like watching a video of my parents. I worried he would mispronounce a word, bomb a joke, or say something awful about his black teammates. Yes, I should probably not compare a 7-foot-6 Chinese basketball player who can carefully select his televised moments with an immigrant parent who has to make his or her way through a skeptical and oftentimes cruel country, but when the scope of available cultural references goes from Jackie Chan to Jet Li to Bruce Lee to Ichiro to Yao to Yan Can Cook, you sometimes have no option but to inflate, conflate, and, at times, fabricate. We live in an era in which self-identification is just the pastiche of relatable characters we piece together while staring in the mirror. Where else could we look for that story? Margaret Cho? Tiger Mothers? The Joy Luck Club?

I apologize to Mr. Kang for having pulled such large chunks from his article, but I blame him for having written it so well. Go here and read it. I recommend it.
Oh, and please do let us know what you think. Did you too relate?

Bruce Feldman is one of the good guys.
The longtime ESPN college football writer helped build the company's massive website from the ground up. He's been a presence at ESPN for 15 years, doing some great reporting and consistently acting in an ethical manner.
Now, however, he has been suspended by the powers that be for participating in a biography about former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach (who was fired from his job in part because of revelations about his treatment of Craig James' son. James is another ESPN employee.)
The suspension is ridiculous.
From Sports By Brooks:

Multiple management and editorial sources at ESPN have told me in recent months that Feldman would only participate in the Leach book project upon direct approval from ESPN management - which Feldman indeed received.

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My name is Usama Abbasi.I am working with famous online news agency "Humari News" for about 2 years.I am writing news on this blog from very long time.
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